Real Madrid opened their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Inter at the Bernabéu on Tuesday, a result that flattered them for long stretches and owed a great deal to Thibaut Courtois. Kylian Mbappé scored in the 13th minute and Federico Valverde added a second in the 22nd, both goals coming from Inter mistakes, before Carlos Augusto pulled one back in the 76th minute to set up a nervy finish.
It was José Mourinho's first European match back at Madrid, against a club he guided to Champions League glory in 2010, and it followed Friday's 1-0 LaLiga defeat at Real Betis, Madrid's first dropped points in the league this season. Mourinho had been clear on the eve of the game about what mattered. "I could say I want to play well, but I don't want to play well like we did against [Real] Betis [in LaLiga on Friday] and lose. I want to win," he said at his pre-match news conference.
Inter had 64% of the possession and 21 shots to Madrid's 16, and won the corner count 11 to 4. Mourinho's own verdict afterwards was that the scoreline could have been very different: "It could have finished five or six-one to us, or it could have finished 6-6," he said.
Inter's Errors Hand Madrid the Lead